UK Defence Forum

Is Germany doing that? They aren’t mounting their sigint on an airbus.....

[*

Ianmb17 wrote:https://itwitter.com/BoeingUK/status/13 ... 12067?s=20

On twitter another photo quotes that a third section46 which will house the radar was ready to sent from 5he us to oz.
So we now have 2 bits here in the uk already with a no 3 soon as the ozzies finish their part of the build.
So the first 2 aircraft mods will start in early next year.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-no ... d-55351077

E-7 fleet will be based at RAF Lossiemouth not RAF Waddington as the E-3s are. This will make Lossiemouth really crowded - four squadrons of Typhoons, at least two squadrons of P-8s, and at least a squadron of E-7s.

I wonder how many on 8 Sqn are happy with that?

Surely at least one, if not two, of the Typhoon Squadrons should be moved to either Kinloss, Leuchars or Leeming to spread the risk around?

Back to the days of the Shackleton! Should improve retention no end...

There fairly clearing out Waddington for the red arrows...

AndyC wrote:Surely at least one, if not two, of the Typhoon Squadrons should be moved to either Kinloss, Leuchars or Leeming to spread the risk around?

Kinloss and Leuchars are diversionary airfields not RAF bases. Typhoons were temporarily located there before Lossie's runways were expanded and improved.

topman wrote:I wonder how many on 8 Sqn are happy with that?

They should transfer to the FAA and get better weather

Does Lossiemouth have the Scottish gnat problem?

Not that I noticed, but my trips to the frozen north have been brief.

Lossie doesn't suffer from gnats IME.

(MoD)

BlueD954 wrote:E-7 fleet will be based at RAF Lossiemouth not RAF Waddington as the E-3s are. This will make Lossiemouth really crowded - four squadrons of Typhoons, at least two squadrons of P-8s, and at least a squadron of E-7s.

The RAF is still going down the "Super" Flying Station route, which is great when there is no threat to the station with all the action taking place overseas by detachments, but there is now a potential threat coming regularly down from the North and having ones eggs in ones basket is a problem waiting to bite us, in theory. AS long as say Leuchars is keep serviceable including its HAS sites so that the Typhons can be dispersed somewhat, and the same with Kinloss for the P-8s and E-7s, the possibility will be mitigated somewhat, but does anyone know if this is the case?

Lord Jim wrote:

BlueD954 wrote:E-7 fleet will be based at RAF Lossiemouth not RAF Waddington as the E-3s are. This will make Lossiemouth really crowded - four squadrons of Typhoons, at least two squadrons of P-8s, and at least a squadron of E-7s.

The RAF is still going down the "Super" Flying Station route, which is great when there is no threat to the station with all the action taking place overseas by detachments, but there is now a potential threat coming regularly down from the North and having ones eggs in ones basket is a problem waiting to bite us, in theory. AS long as say Leuchars is keep serviceable including its HAS sites so that the Typhons can be dispersed somewhat, and the same with Kinloss for the P-8s and E-7s, the possibility will be mitigated somewhat, but does anyone know if this is the case?

You'll have to boot the Army out of Leuchars and re-install much of the airfields.

The Kinloss dispersal sites and HPS/ weapons complex are still serviceable AFAIK.

Leuchars and Kinloss are both useable for dispersal.

The US Navy has also been operating P-8s from Prestwick.

jimthelad wrote:The Kinloss dispersal sites and HPS/ weapons complex are still serviceable AFAIK.

Serviceable but can they handle the whole squadron or just diversion airfields?

Will the P8 maintenance building be able to handle a E7.

Can't see why not... E-7's are smaller than P-8's

BlueD954 wrote:

jimthelad wrote:The Kinloss dispersal sites and HPS/ weapons complex are still serviceable AFAIK.

Serviceable but can they handle the whole squadron or just diversion airfields?

Define handle.

Leeming is still a flying station with 100 sqn plus the ex 25 sqn HAS site has been refurbed and is used to support visitors like the Swiss F-18's and so on. It might not be able to hold front line ops but it could take say 9 or 12 sqn in a training role like having all the red air together

Made sense to base these at Lossiemouth with the P-8's. All the servicing for E-7 & P-8 will be under one roof.

The irony

First UK Wedgetail arrives for conversion by STS

https://www.flightglobal.com/defence/fi ... 09.article



A former Deer Jet-operated Boeing 737NG which will be modified into an E-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) arrived at its UK conversion site earlier this month.

Currently registered as N946BC, the narrowbody arrived at the Birmingham airport facilities of STS Aviation Services on 7 January, following a 6h flight from Bangor, Maine, in the USA.

Cirium fleets data records the twinjet as having previously been operated in a 737-BBJ1 configuration, with 29 seats. First flown in June 2010, before undergoing conversion for VIP operations, it was used by Deer Jet under the registration B-5273 – via China’s AVIC International Leasing – before being acquired by Boeing in June 2019.

Boeing Defence UK managing director Anna Keeling describes the milestone as “a major accomplishment”.

“While hundreds of people throughout the UK and around the world have been working on this programme since the contract was signed, we now have the airframe that will become the RAF’s first Wedgetail in the country,” she notes.

The other pre-owned asset scheduled to undergo conversion for the RAF was also originally ordered by Deer Jet. Now registered as N947BC and first flown in June 2011, the platform saw use with Deer Jet’s sister VIP operators Hongkong Jet, and Business Aviation Services Guernsey, as well as Bermuda firm Longtail Aviation, Cirium fleet records show.

In addition to these two airframes, the UK will also field a trio of new-build 737-700s, to complete its E-7 fleet. Ordered via a £1.5 billion ($2 billion) acquisition to replace aged 707-based E-3D Sentry airborne warning and control system aircraft, the fleet will be based at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland, alongside the RAF’s 737NG-based P-8A Poseidon MRA1 maritime patrol aircraft.

UK Wedgetail AEW1 fleet deliveries are expected to occur in the 2023-2024 period.



Boeing last May named STS as its in-country conversion partner, and in mid-2020 delivered the first tooling and parts to support the work. This included delivering reinforced Section 46 fuselage sections, which are needed to accommodate the Wedgetail system’s Northrop Grumman Multi-role Electronically Scanned Array radar.

Once converted, the aircraft will accommodate 10 onboard operator workstations for airborne and maritime surveillance, plus battle management duties.

Boeing notes that UK personnel have been training with launch Wedgetail operator the Royal Australian Air Force since 2018 in support of the E-7 programme. Canberra has a six-strong fleet of the type, which it has used to support combat operations in Iraq.

https://questions-statements.parliament ... -08/134370

In common with all 737 Next Generation airliners, the first two airframes to be modified to become RAF Wedgetail AEW Mk1 aircraft were manufactured by Boeing in the United States. They were initially operated by commercial airlines based in China and Hong Kong, and were then acquired by Boeing from the commercial market via a broker. The use of second-hand airframes provides a significant schedule and cost benefit to the programme, which will enable this vital capability to be introduced sooner than would have been the case if new airframes had been manufactured.